Reality
by Dominicius
Summary: The future will open hundreds of possibilities to mankind, but are there any consequences of such freedom? How will we be changed by it?


**Reality**

**A Lilo and Stitch fanfinction**

I do not claim ownership over Stitch or any other character from Lilo & Stitch, these tradmarks belong to Disney.

* * *

Somewhere in the future it was almost ten o'clock in the evening and a single boy was sitting in front of his computer. The name of this boy was Alhan and he was about fourteen years old, had short dark-brown hair and was a bit taller then other boy's of his age. He lived whit his family in an apartment of a twenty four storey high skyrise. It wasn't bad, considering that most people lived that way and such buildings accommodated most luxuries of a small city, and thus were almost perfectly autonomous.

The boy looked at the clock, possibly the only thing besides the computer screen that was illuminated in his room, and a smile crossed his face. Today was Friday meaning that he would be able to stay up for quite a while without having to worry about school. So he decided to spend at least two hours of his remaining spare time at his computer watching all sorts movies or cartoons his parents have gotten him over the internet before going to bed. His virtual nanny wouldn't let him stay up too long anyway.

- You have two hours and eight minutes before bedtime. - came a voice from the computer.

- I know, I know! Don't disturb me while I'm watching something, - he answered whit a large hint of frustration in his voice.

Even though Alhan knew his efforts were in vain he still tried to pretend that he was alone in his room, without his virtual caretaker taking note of his every move. So it was only natural that each time he was reminded of the opposite it annoyed him to no end.

Today Alhan was watching some old Disney movies back from the days when fifth generation computers weren't even beginning to become available to people, but like most good things, these movies were slow to become outdated. And right now he was watching "Lilo & Stitch" already almost at its end and planning to watch "Stitch has a Glitch" after he finished whit the first, hoping it would be just as good as the one he had just watched.

When he was done whit both movies it was already half past eleven.

Alhan didn't even notice how he started thinking about what he had seen in those cartoons. He really enjoyed both of them and was now feeling very sympathetic to both the little Hawaiian girl and her blue alien friend, but especially to Stitch, whom he thought to be very cool and friendly. And so he began to fantasize about all the things that could have happened in the movies, about how each character would react to them, how it would change them and many other things, all of which started to become less realistic the longer he dreamed about them, all the while looking out of the window in his room and into the dark sky above the city.

At last when his mind returned to reality it was eleven forty, so only twenty more minutes before the start of a new day and the end of his evening experience. Whit that he decided to make the best of the little remaining time he had and turned his head toward the computer.

- I want you to create an artificial personality replica of … - there was a slight pause during this sentence, - of Stitch from the cartoon I just watched.

- This task will take me about three minutes to complete. Are you sure you wish to proceed? – was the reply of the computer.

- Positive, I want it to be as close to the one in the movie as possible. – Alhan answered impatiently. - Make sure to model him after the Stitch in the end of the second movie. – He added after some consideration.

Alhan knew that his caretaker was programmed to fulfill his every wish unless it was directly forbidden by his parents; his other task was also to record his every move and then tell Alhan's parents what their son has been doing in his free time; this was the reason for his slight hesitation from a moment ago, but was ill founded since his parents didn't really care for what he was doing by himself and only rarely checked on the records that were made everyday by Alhan's computer. Now it was, of course, different when he was younger but as he grew older his parents decided that it would be for the best to put more distance between themselves and their son, hoping that it would help him develop more independence and responsibility for his actions, but that is an entirely different story.

As the computer began to process and analyze the data from the movies, it emitted a soft hum and a new window appeared on the screen whit a progress bar that begin to fill itself whit the speed of about one percent every two seconds. Alhan sat and waited, and although he was already rather sleepy by this point he was focused on trying this one thing before he could go to bed and, as he reckoned, it was worth waiting for.

Finally the progress bar reached the one hundred mark and a voice was heard from the speakers:

-You may now activate the desired virtual personality as well as selecting starting background and mood patterns.

Alhan thought for a few seconds upon hearing this and then made his decision

- Select the default background and as for the mood patterns – none, he should start asleep. Begin when ready.

It took less then ten seconds after Alhan had said those words that the screen turned black and the entire room became completely dark for a moment, when finally new images appeared on the screen the first thing the boy saw was a white room whit no doors or windows, there was no furniture in this room either but somehow every part of it was lit equally by a light that seemed to have no natural source. But that wasn't the most interesting thing you could see on the screen - right in the middle of the white room was something that looked like a furry blue ball. Through the speakers one could now hear the sound of breathing and snoring coming from this ball and it was quite obvious that it was alive, or in this case, just a very good illusion of it.

Alhan immediately recognized Stitch and for a second just looked at the screen without making any movements, almost as if he was afraid he could wake him, but shortly thereafter he reached for the mouse and adjusted the view in the screen so that he could see Stitch from different angles.

As he looked he noticed how every detail was executed perfectly and it really seemed as if Stitch was actually alive behind the screen he was currently sitting at. Other people might have been amazed by this, but not Alhan, by this point he was already half used to this level of efficiency.

He spent only two more minutes looking at him but then remembered that he still wanted to try out a few simulations and time was already short. Only fourteen more minutes before he would be forced to go to sleep so he only had time for one, at best, two of his ideas…

- Ok, I think its time for him to wake up but first I want you to create another background, a random jungle on Kokua would be best, sometime during the day – at those words the scene began to change and soon Stitch wasn't sleeping in a perfectly white room, but instead, waking up in a jungle that, like everything else on the monitor, had amazing detail.

Stitch opened his eyes, still seeming half asleep and looked around, it seemed that his current surroundings got his attention as he suddenly expressed full awareness, probably because wherever he expected to wake up was most likely not this place. After a few more seconds of observing his surrounding Stitch finally calmed down but was obviously still confused as to what he was doing there, yet not being able to find an answer he started to walk into the direction of the Pelekai house.

- Seems he already knew that place… - Alhan said to himself after seeing how easily Stitch managed to find his way in the middle of the jungle.

- Well… this would be a good time see what he would actually do if he were to be confronted whit the death of the person he cares about. When he reaches the home of his Ohana I want him to see it lying in ruins and next to it he would find the body of Lilo already being dead for a few hours. Begin when ready.

As Alhan said those words Stitch was already near his home, he now only needed to walk for a minuet or less to reach his destination. Somehow Stitch moved faster then usual and it was as if he could sense something wrong whit what was happening around him or maybe it was the strangeness of waking in an unexpected location that made him accelerate his movement. Whatever the reason, it almost seemed as if the program wouldn't be able to generate the simulation fast enough before Stitch would arrive, but unlike the creation of a fully artificial personality the creation of objects that didn't poses self-awareness took less then twenty seconds. So when he finally arrived at his home he saw exactly what he was meant to see.

Stitch saw the home of his Ohana completely destroyed; the place that he became so used to during his life whit Lilo was now nothing more then a memory now. Every wall was torn down and the pieces scattered around everywhere, it was clear to anyone who looked that the house was beyond repair.

They say that when a person suffers a great tragedy it causes a numb shock in his heart, and as Alhan was looking directly at Stitch he was convinced of the truth of that saying. For a few seconds Stitches face was nothing more then a blank mask as he was trying to realize what just happened not wanting to accept the reality of what he saw, but that only lasted for a few seconds as a new emotion crossed his face, that emotion was panic. Almost in flash Stitch jumped into the air only to land in the middle of the wreckage and began searching for his family.

It didn't take long before his search had yielded results: a few meters away from that which used to be his home he saw Lilo laying on the ground whit other pieces of debris scattered around her. It was only for a moment that Stitche's heart stopped beating as he realized that she wasn't moving.

- Lilo! – he screamed and jumped towards her.

His face was marked by panic, but despite it he kept running, for that which drove him forward was a hope so desperate it consumed his entire being. Hope is the only thing that keeps the mind alive, and right now Stitch was afraid he might lose it.

Stitch ran to Lilo and picked her up by the shoulders, when he felt that her body held no warmth in it, for the first time in his life touching Lilo didn't warm him, instead he felt his own heat slowly passing to her lifeless body. Even then as tears began flow down from his eyes and into his mouth Stitch could not believe that which he knew was true, he didn't want it to be true. He hugged Lilo's body tighter ready to give her all his warmth just so that she might be saved from the horrible chilling cold that he felt when he touched her and began to cry, when actually he was trying to speak.

- Lilo! Lilo! Please Lilo! Don't leave meega alone… Please don't …. leave meega alone… Please… please…

Whit every word more and more warmth passed from his body to Lilo and now he himself began to feel cold, each word became more and more silent and as the sound of his voice began to die, so did the hope within him.

After a moment that seemed to last forever even sorrow and despair came to an end and no more tears were there flow from his eyes, only a numb emptiness replaced them. The only thing that could be heard was the occasional sobbing as Stitch still lay at Lilo's side and holding her body tightly in his arms, at that point nothing in the world could make him let her go, for when compared to the death of a beloved person all other tragedies in this world become nothing.

- Enough of that – Alhan said and immediately the picture on the screen froze, giving him time to think about what he had seen.

It was strange how much this scene reminded of the one that he saw at the end the second movie, but this time it was the other way around for both Stitch and Lilo. Also, Alhan knew that this was exactly what he wanted when he asked for this particular simulation, but somehow thinking about it made him wonder if it wasn't a bit too much. But even as those thoughts crossed his mind he was quick to suppress them as he reminded himself that it wasn't real, and that the next simulation he planed to do would have a much lighter mood anyway.

He once more looked at the clock; it was only six more minuets before midnight, just enough time for what he wanted to do.

- Erase all data of the current simulation but maintain Stitche's virtual personality. Make sure that this event is not recorded in his memory. - another twelve seconds passed as the computer carried out this order. - Now create a second background, this time inside the dome of the Pelekai house where Stitch and Lilo live. The starting mood patterns will not exist, but he won't be sleeping this time, instead he will just be waking from sleep. It should be early in the morning so Lilo would still sleep in her bed and the sun would have just begun to rise above the horizon.

Another wave of noise emanated from the computer as this command was carried out and after a moment of being blank the monitor filled whit images, the images of Lilo's room.

A loud yawn was hear as Alhan saw Stitch slowly wake from his sleep and open his eyes. But this time he wasn't alarmed by his surrounding, this was his home, a place that gave him a sense of security and belonging. He slowly turned his head to see Lilo asleep in her bed and as he looked at her longer he allowed himself to reflect on the peace he felt when he saw her sleeping. In essence, it were moments like these that reminded Stitch of the beauty of life.

He then stood up and walked toward the window and saw that it was nearly morning, meaning that the others would soon wake up and a new day would begin. He then sat down in front of the window and looked at the sunrise, because this sunrise was different in many ways from the usual ones, it was one of those sunrises that, when you look at it, would remove all doubt and uncertainty in your mind and replace it whit the belief in a new beginning and a better tomorrow. Such a sunrise doesn't last long so Stitch wanted live this moment while it was still around.

Suddenly Stitch turned his head to the right and for the first Alhan was looking directly into the dark, shimmering eyes of the alien. He felt, even though he knew it was impossible, as if Stitch could see him just as clearly as he could Stitch across the screen of the monitor.

- Stop the simulation, - Alhan said quickly and the images on the monitor froze immediately, he then grabbed the mouse and rotated the camera so that he could see what Stitch was looking at but found nothing that could have caught his attention.

Maybe it was just his imagination? He turned the camera back to the view it had before he had paused the simulation, Stitch was still looking directly at him and that made Alhan somewhat confused and uncomfortable. When he looked closer at Stitche's face it seemed to him that Stitch wanted to say something before becoming frozen. But even if it was true, what did he want to say? As such questions began to fill Alhan's brain he became unsure what to do next, the only thing he did was look at Stitch and Stitch still seemed to look back.

As the seconds passed Alhan decided that he wanted to hear what Stitch would say, or if he was going to say anything at all. Maybe then this situation would make sense, if he hears what Stitch would say? But just as he was about to resume the simulation and see what would happen, a familiar voice reached his ears:

- It is exactly twelve o'clock and your time for today is over, you must now proceed to bed. – He heard the voice of virtual caretaker.

- Uhh… oh, yes I'll go. - Alhan said after finally leaving the trance like state he was in a moment ago. - I am done anyway…

He moved his hand off the computer table and took a last look at the monitor but found that the program had already exited and he only saw the image of his desktop in front of him.

Part of his mind still tried to return to what just happened, but more then ever at that moment Alhan wanted some sleep, whatever it was that he had just seen could wait until tomorrow. It probably wasn't even all that important or just glitch in his imagination, he convinced himself not wanting to think about the matter any further.

So when he had finally reached his bed those thoughts became like distant memories that were hard to recall. Or more like phantoms and illusions that travel your mind. And yet had attained even more likeness whit dreams, which he was, perhaps, already dreaming.

* * *

So I hope you enjoyed this little story of mine, I kind of wanted to see what I could do whit an idea that suddenly popped into my head and, well, this is the result. I have, maybe, crossed the edge sometimes in this story, making some moments in it less believable, but writing is still more of a learning experience for me and I will try to improve on it as I go. But please, feel free to add your own comments and suggestions.

P.S: If you don't know, fifth generation computers were supposed to have a fully functioning artificial intelligence that could copy the patterns of human behaiviour (before AI become more of a software product, you can read more about what happened to them on wikipedia), I drew the idea for this story out of this.


End file.
